Unfortunately, it took until this afternoon to get official confirmation.

According to the police report, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding north in the west crosswalk on Hobart at approximately 3:07 pm Wednesday when he was struck by a car headed west on Hollywood.

The impact apparently knocked him into a parked car on the north curb, before falling back into the street. He died at the scene.

LAist reports that the crosswalk has a blinking yellow light to warn drivers that someone is crossing. However, it’s unclear if it was working at the time, or if the rider had activated it.

They also quote a comment from a Reddit thread indicating that the driver was taking an 84-year old grandmother to the hospital; however, while there are several hospitals nearby, they are all in the opposite direction from which the car was headed.

However, the LAPD interprets the law as requiring cyclists to ride in the direction of traffic when they enter a crosswalk. In this case, that would have required the victim to cross on the east side of Hobart, but the only crosswalk is on the west side.

On the other hand, unless the victim was traveling at a high rate of speed, the driver should have had time to see him and react before he reached the opposite side of the road.

If there’s a lesson to learn from this, it’s that you should never count on drivers seeing you and stopping in time, in a crosswalk or anywhere else; always wait until they actually stop before trying to cross in front of them.

This is the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fifth in the City of Los Angeles.

That compares with 41 in the seven county SoCal region this time last year, and 17 in the county. However, it’s one more than in the City of LA on this date in 2014.

Update: The victim’s granddaughter has identified him as Thomas Galvan Munoz, a resident of the area for 30 years who rode his bike through the streets of LA every day.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Thomas Galvan Munoz and his loved ones.

But instead of just closing LA’s biggest tourist attraction to cars in front of the massively crowded Hollywood and Highland/Chinese Theatre area, why not close it down for the full length of the Walk of Fame?

It’s already scheduled for a road diet and bike lanes, which would improve safety and increase walkability for the many millions of tourists who stroll the street every year.

Turning it into a pedestrian mall with bike lanes and a trolley or shuttle buses would make it even more attractive to visitors, while increasing property values and giving a huge boost to businesses along the way. Including the dilapidated and increasingly vacant blocks west of Cahuenga.

Virtually all of the businesses on Hollywood rely on foot traffic, rather than customers arriving by cars. And the few that do can be easily serviced by the many cross streets along the way.

So why not cater to them, while eliminating the risk of pedestrians and bicyclist being hit by cars on the street once and for all?

Another proposed CA law would require bike riders to have a flashing red tail light after dark; an earlier version of the bill, which called for a flashing white light, is put off as a typo. Note to reporters: Riding a bike in California is not particularly dangerous; while bad things can happen — just as they do with any other form of transportation — the primary reason the state leads the nation in bicycling deaths is because it also leads the nation in population, and possibly in bike riders.

No surprise that bike-friendly Long Beach ranks as the nation’s 33rd most physically active city; more surprising that auto-centric LA checked in just three spots later.

State

A Washington Post article suggests California should take the lead in requiring carmakers to install collision avoidance systems to protect bike riders and pedestrians.

A Corona boy is back on his bike 18 months after he was mauled by two dogs while riding.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 92-year old Palm Desert man rides his bike 20 miles nearly every morning and is about to the inducted into the Triathlon Hall of Fame; thanks to sponsor Michael Rubenstein for the heads-up.

National

A new study shows even moderate exercise — like riding a bike, for instance — can help middle-aged women protect their hearts. Although anyone who calls a woman middle-aged may need to protect more than their heart.

An Oregon driver gets two years in prison and an eight year ban on driving for fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist while texting.

In today’s edition of the trials and tribulations of our favorite ex-Tour de France winner, Lance pleads guilty to careless driving in Aspen, but gets away with the attempted cover up and possibly a DUI. A new study concludes bike riding may or may not contribute to erectile dysfunction; no, that helps, really.

It was stolen off the 222 Metro bus line heading Eastbound on Hollywood Blvd at 8:40PM. The theif lifted it off at the bus stop on Ivar Ave and Hollywood Blvd and rode southbound on Ivar Ave. By the time I saw it happen, I could only see that he was wearing a backwards baseball cap and was pedaling away with my bike around the corner. The bus driver was honking and people on the bus was yelling, “the bike”.

It was a 2009 Lemond Reno 51cm. They can email me at [email protected] or contact Detective Savedra at (323) 563-5000 at the LA Sheriffs referencing case #913-06822-6874-386.

Keep your eyes open, especially if you see a similar bike listed on Craigslist or some other online forum, or see a bike on the street that matches the description.